Today’s SUPER 7 > TUESDAY / OCT. 13, 2015

“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening, primarily on Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you don’t have to.” We make it as easy as 1-2-3.
(click on links for complete event info.)

Have time for only one event today? Do this:

The New York Cabaret ConventionThe Town Hall, 123 W43rd St./ 6PM; $27–$102
“The Mabel Mercer Foundation’s 26th annual cabaret fest brings together some of the genre’s most established artists to celebrate the Great American Songbook.

Music, Dance, Performing ArtsNYC Ballet(through Oct. 18)DHK / NYState Theater, Lincoln Center, Columbus Avenue, at W64th St.
Tuesday at 7:30PM, $60-$170
“Much of the week is a Balanchine love-fest, featuring a collection of his famous “Black and White” ballets (Oct. 10 matinee and evening), a taste of his Romantic side in “Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3” and “Liebeslieder Walzer” (Oct. 11), and a nod to commedia dell’arte in “Harlequinade,” which is paired with Jerome Robbins’s streetwise rumble, “N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz.” (Oct. 13-15) (Brian Schaefer-NYT)

Tom Harrell(through Oct. 18)Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave. S., at 11th St./
“With his First Impressions ensemble, the estimable trumpeter and composer Tom Harrell augments a standard jazz quintet with a guitar, cello, and violin—in effect, a compact string section. Harrell is a veteran player who seems to be getting more adventurous as he ages. (NewYorker)

Steely Dan (through October 17)Beacon Theatre, 2124 Broadway @ 74th St./ 8PM, $60-$220
“Though we haven’t seen a new release from the jazzy soft-rock legends since 2003, the Dan’s ability to draw massive crowds for an eight-night run at Beacon Theatre all these years later speaks to their grooving tunes’ eternal staying power. With so many viewing opportunities, you have no excuse to miss ‘em.” (TONY)

Smart Stuff / Other(Lectures, Discussions, Book Talks, Literary Readings, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)Archtober (Oct. 01-31)This month offers a prime opportunity to honor the beauty of the NYCity skyline with Archtober, a festival of tours, talks and exhibitions exploring the city’s architecture. The festival showcases a different building each day. Today’s pick is the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. At noon, the deputy director will lead a tour of the building, which is the country’s only museum devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design.

Architecture and Design Film Festival (through Oct. 18)Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas 9, 260 W23rd St./ various times
“The lineup for this festival may seem niche, but the subject matter affects out daily lives: housing, preservation, the environment. Highlights include a virtual reality lounge, a Rizzoli pop-up bookstore and the screening of “The Infinite Happiness” (Tuesday at 8 p.m.), about the “8 House” building in Copenhagen by the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels.” (NYT-SpareTimes)

The Archaeology of American Cities
Nan A. Rothschild and Diana diZerega Wall Book TalkThe Skyscraper Museum, 39Battery Place/ 6:30PM, FREE with RSVP
“New York has been built, altered, redeveloped, destroyed, reimagined, and rebuilt for centuries. When new construction projects require digging, literally, into the city’s past, urban archeologists are presented with the challenging problems of reconstructing from limited data, a picture of the material culture of the past and of the social forces that drive urban development.

At the forefront of this academic discipline, Professors Nan Rothschild and Diana Wall introduce their fascinating field of research to a broad readership. Focusing on case studies of work undertaken in New York, Philadelphia, Tucson, West Oakland, The Archaeology of American Cities uses the material culture of former centuries to highlight recurring themes that reflect distinctive characteristics of urban life in the United States.”

==================================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of 8.5 million, had a record 56 million visitors last year and is TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2015. Quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
==================================================================================

A PremierPub / Midtown West.

Russian Vodka Room / 265 W 52nd St (btw 7th/8th ave)

Sure, you could travel to Minsk or even Brighton Beach, for an authentic Russian experience, but why bother. On those days when you feel you must wash down your dish of kasha with a few glasses of icy, cold vodka, the Russian Vodka Room will definitely satisfy your urge.

From the outside this place looks a bit drab, and with no windows, a bit mysterious. Midtown tourists walk right by on their way to see “Jersey Boys,” just down the block.

Those in the know enter a secret hideaway, a dimly lit front room with soft jazz playing – a perfect spot for an illicit late-night rendezvous, or maybe a meet-up with your Russian spy handler, but that’s later in the evening. Early in the evening the large U-shaped bar fills with the after work happy hour crowd, a group made very happy by the much reduced prices.

Their website says: “Welcome Comrades”. Of course, this welcome focuses on dozens of different vodkas, including their own special infusions, which marinate in giant, clear glass jugs visible around the room. The large vodka martinis ensure that you won’t confuse this place with your mother’s Russian Tea Room.

But man does not live by vodka alone. Eat some food, especially the tapa like appetizers. Be decadent and try the cheese blintzes with chocolate, or try a main dish like beef stroganoff with kasha.

Your best bet is to go on a night when the piano man is playing. This guy, who looks like he has eaten a lot of those cheese blintzes, plays five nights a week from 7 to 12 (no Mondays and Thursdays). When the piano man is playing American pop tunes, and you are at the crowded, dimly lit bar testing the horseradish infused vodka, that’s when the RVR shines.

It’s the kind of place where the noise gets louder and the crowd gets happier as the happy hour goes on. I’m generally a beer guy, but I like to come here with a group of friends. We find a table in the back room near the piano man; we eat, and we drink vodka ‘till it hurts (and it will hurt).

========================================================

Website:http://www.russianvodkaroom.com/Phone #: 212-307-5835Hours: 4pm-2am; Fri-Sun closes 4am (that could be trouble)Happy Hour: 4-7pm every day
$4 shots infused vodka (2oz), $5 cosmos; $4 czech draft beerMusic: FR-SU; TU-WE / 7pm-12amSubway: #1 to 50th St.
Walk 2 blk N. on B’way to 52nd St.; 1 blk W. to RVR
Confusingly, the Russian Samovar is right across the street, on the S. side of 52nd St.
The RVR, your destination, is on the N. side of 52nd St.Update: music now includes a sax player with a younger, trimmer piano man. “tiny” we miss you.

==================================================================================“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, jazz clubs, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars, cocktail lounges, and of course, pubs – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge (except for certain jazz clubs).

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.